1996 U.S. Open (golf)
| File:1996OpenLogo.jpg | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Dates | June 13–16, 1996 |
| Location | Bloomfield Hills, Michigan |
| Course(s) | Oakland Hills Country Club South Course |
| Organized by | USGA |
| Tour(s) | PGA Tour |
| Statistics | |
| Par | 70 |
| Length | 6,974 yards (6,377 m) |
| Field | 156 players, 108 after cut |
| Cut | 148 (+8) |
| Prize fund | $2.4 million |
| Winner's share | $425,000 |
| Champion | |
| United States Steve Jones | |
| 278 (−2) | |
The 1996 U.S. Open was the 96th U.S. Open, held June 13–16 at Oakland Hills Country Club in Birmingham, Michigan, a suburb northwest of Detroit. Steve Jones won his only major title, one stroke ahead of runners-up Tom Lehman and Davis Love III.[1][2][3][4][5] Jones went through an incredible journey just to get to Oakland Hills. He had won four PGA Tour events, the last in 1989, but in November 1991 he was involved in a dirt bike accident that threatened to end his career. He separated his shoulder and sprained an ankle, as well as suffering ligament damage in his left ring finger.[1][4] Jones was sidelined for three years, not making it back on tour until 1994. His win here came in his first U.S. Open since 1991, and he was the first champion to go through sectional qualifying since tour rookie Jerry Pate in 1976.[4] After this win, Jones won three additional events on tour. This was the eighth major championship at the South Course, which previously hosted the U.S. Open in 1924, 1937, 1951, 1961, and 1985, and the PGA Championship in 1972 and 1979. It later hosted the PGA Championship in 2008. It was Lehman's third close call in a major (1994 Masters, 1995 U.S. Open);[4] he regrouped and won the next, The Open Championship in England. Love won the PGA Championship the following year at Winged Foot.
Course layout
South Course [6]
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Out | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | In | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yards | 433 | 523 | 194 | 430 | 455 | 356 | 405 | 440 | 220 | 3,456 | 450 | 399 | 560 | 170 | 471 | 400 | 403 | 200 | 465 | 3,518 | 6,974 |
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 35 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 35 | 70 |
Lengths of the course for previous majors:
|
Round summaries
First round
Thursday, June 13, 1996
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| T1 | United States Woody Austin | 67 | −3 |
| United States Payne Stewart | |||
| T3 | United States Lee Janzen | 68 | −2 |
| United States John Morse | |||
| T5 | United States Paul Azinger | 69 | −1 |
| United States David Berganio Jr. | |||
| United States Stewart Cink | |||
| United States Bob Ford | |||
| New Zealand Frank Nobilo | |||
| Japan Masashi Ozaki | |||
| Republic of Ireland Philip Walton | |||
| United States Gary Trivisonno |
.svg){kind=link}
Second round
Friday, June 14, 1996
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States Payne Stewart | 67-71=138 | −2 |
| T2 | United States Woody Austin | 67-72=139 | −1 |
| South Africa Ernie Els | 72-67=139 | ||
| Australia Greg Norman | 73-66=139 | ||
| T5 | United States Ken Green | 73-67=140 | E |
| United States Steve Jones | 74-66=140 | ||
| United States Davis Love III | 71-69=140 | ||
| New Zealand Frank Nobilo | 69-71=140 | ||
| Scotland Sam Torrance | 71-69=140 | ||
| T10 | United States Billy Andrade | 72-69=141 | +1 |
| United States David Berganio Jr. | 69-72=141 | ||
| United States John Cook | 70-71=141 | ||
| United States John Daly | 72-69=141 | ||
| United States Jim Furyk | 72-69=141 | ||
| United States Neal Lancaster | 74-67=141 | ||
| Japan Masashi Ozaki | 69-72=141 | ||
| United States Scott Simpson | 70-71=141 | ||
| United States Tom Watson | 70-71=141 |
.svg){kind=link}
Amateurs: Scott (+4), Woods (+5), Kuehne (+8), Leen (+8), Hobby (+10), Edstrom (+14).
Third round
Saturday, June 15, 1996
| Place | Player | Score | To par |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States Tom Lehman | 71-72-65=208 | −2 |
| 2 | United States Steve Jones | 74-66-69=209 | −1 |
| T3 | United States Davis Love III | 71-69-70=210 | E |
| United States John Morse | 68-74-68=210 | ||
| New Zealand Frank Nobilo | 69-71-70=210 | ||
| T6 | United States Woody Austin | 67-72-72=211 | +1 |
| South Africa Ernie Els | 72-67-72=211 | ||
| United States Jim Furyk | 72-69-70=211 | ||
| Scotland Colin Montgomerie | 70-72-69=211 | ||
| Scotland Sam Torrance | 71-69-71=211 |
Final round
Sunday, June 16, 1996 In the final pairing, Tom Lehman had a three-stroke lead over Steve Jones after eight holes, but bogeyed 10 and 12 and Jones led by two strokes with six holes remaining. Tied at the 18th tee, Lehman drove into a bunker and missed a 15-foot (4.5 m) putt to save par. Davis Love III made a charge, recording birdies at 11, 12, and 15; he bogeyed the final two holes, missing a 3-footer (0.9 m) for par at the last. John Morse came to the 18th tee at 1-under needing a birdie to tie Jones and Lehman for the lead; he hit the green in two on the par-4 finishing hole, but 3-putted from 30 feet to finish at even par for the tournament and end up alone in fourth place. Unlike Love, Morse and Lehman, Jones did not bogey the last; he hit his approach to 12 feet (3.7 m) and two-putted for par to prevail by one.[4][5]
| Place | Player | Score | To par | Money ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | United States Steve Jones | 74-66-69-69=278 | −2 | 425,000 |
| T2 | United States Tom Lehman | 71-72-65-71=279 | −1 | 204,801 |
| United States Davis Love III | 71-69-70-69=279 | |||
| 4 | United States John Morse | 68-74-68-70=280 | E | 111,235 |
| T5 | South Africa Ernie Els | 72-67-72-70=281 | +1 | 84,965 |
| United States Jim Furyk | 72-69-70-70=281 | |||
| T7 | United States Ken Green | 73-67-72-70=282 | +2 | 66,295 |
| United States Scott Hoch | 73-71-71-67=282 | |||
| Fiji Vijay Singh | 71-72-70-69=282 | |||
| T10 | United States Lee Janzen | 68-75-71-69=283 | +3 | 52,591 |
| Scotland Colin Montgomerie | 70-72-69-72=283 | |||
| Australia Greg Norman | 73-66-74-70=283 |
Amateurs: Leen (+11), Kuehne (+13), Woods (+14), Scott (+21)
Scorecard
| Hole | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Par | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 4 |
| United States Jones | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 |
| United States Lehman | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −4 | −4 | −4 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −1 |
| United States Love | E | −1 | −1 | E | E | E | E | −1 | −1 | E | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −3 | −3 | −2 | −1 |
| United States Morse | E | E | E | E | E | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −1 | −1 | E |
| South Africa Els | +1 | +1 | +1 | +1 | +2 | +1 | E | +1 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +3 | +2 | +2 | +1 | +1 |
| United States Furyk | +1 | E | E | E | E | E | +1 | +2 | +2 | +2 | +1 | E | E | E | E | −1 | E | +1 |
| New Zealand Nobilo | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −1 | −2 | −2 | −2 | −1 | −1 | −1 | E | +2 | +3 | +3 | +4 |
Cumulative tournament scores, relative to par
| Birdie | Bogey | Double Bogey |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Sirak, Ron (June 17, 1996). "Virtual unknown Steve Jones tames 'The Monster'". Tuscaloosa News. (Alabama). Associated Press. p. 1B.
- ↑ Dorman, Larry (June 17, 1996). "Inspired Jones claims U.S. Open title". Spokesman-Review. (Spokane, Washington). (New York Times). p. C1.
- ↑ Bonk, Thomas (June 17, 1996). "Stellar field humbled by a man named Jones". Eugene Register-Guard. (Oregon). (Los Angeles Times). p. 1B.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 Reilly, Rick (June 24, 1996). "Dear Mr. Hogan,". Sports Illustrated. p. 38.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Parascenzo, Marino (June 17, 1996). "Steve who?". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. p. B-1.
- ↑ "1996 U.S. Open: Card of the course". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Associated Press. June 13, 1996. p. D-2.
- ↑ "U.S. Open History". USGA. Retrieved April 15, 2019.